Austin stuck his blond head inside the sliding door. “Lou, get your butt out here. Food’s ready.”
Everyone found a seat around the table. Lou removed his ball cap as he sat next to Elvira then pecked her on the lips. I’d learned recently that Lou and Elvira had thing for each other. Reagan and Austin were hot and heavy in their relationship. And I had my girl. I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten so lucky, especially when I hadn’t been sure if I would ever take a chance again on dating. And here I was, falling for a girl that gave relationships a whole new meaning—the kind that made my body sing and my life so much richer.
We dove into the food, talking about football. We had two games left in the season, and the team was enjoying a perfect record. Coach Holmes was happy. On the other hand, I couldn’t say my old man was happy. My performance on the field had been good but not great. I had been sacked in the last game, and I’d thrown an interception in the last game. I had thought my dad would’ve nagged me about those two plays, but he hadn’t said a word. I wondered if he hadn’t because of the conversation we’d had on the football field a few weeks back when I told him how he fucked with my head.
“Montana,” Austin said. “Has your mom heard from Joey Dennison?”
Coach had filled the team in on Joey Dennison and told them he hoped the former Naval Academy player would show up to give us some pointers.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” she said in between bites of her burger. “I’ll have to check.”
The sliding door whooshed open at my back.
“Hey, Mr. Everly,” Reagan said.
Dad was decked out in shorts, a golf shirt, and a ball cap. “Guys. Gals.”
I got that my dad owned the house, but he was rarely there. “What are you doing here?”
“I need a minute. Let’s take a walk down the beach,” he said to me.
Maybe he was ready to give me his two cents or complain about my performance on the field. Whatever the case, my pulse raced. I didn’t want to fight with him in front of my friends. “Be right back,” I said to the group.
They whispered as my dad and I ambled down to the water’s edge. The afternoon breeze was picking up as high tide rolled in.
“Dad, if you’re here to fight—”
He held up his hand. “The coach at USC called me today. You’re in. You got your scholarship.”
I would’ve smiled or even hugged him, but his tight features gave me reason to pause. “Then what’s up? Are you mad at me for speaking my mind the other day?”
“I heard you. I didn’t say a word when you threw that interception. I wanted to, but someone reminded me that I was once in your shoes. But you don’t see me happy because I’m still concerned about your off-field performance.”
I walked away from him then back. “I messed up one time, and you’re still hanging that incident over my head?”
He moved his hands around as though he was conducting an orchestra. “Train. You broke someone’s collarbone. And let’s not forget he was the starting quarterback for Clemson. That kind of shit makes the news. That is also the kind of shit you don’t need. Otherwise, they’ll pull your scholarship.”
“Is this about Montana? Have you moved on from football to tell me who I can fuck, date, or marry?” I balled my hands into fists. He came here to give me good news. Yet all he was doing was driving a wedge further into our father-son relationship.
He scratched his unshaven jaw. “Are things serious with her?”
I seriously wanted to punch my old man at that moment. “What’s this about?”
“Are you also seeing Nina?”
“Fuck no.”
“Then why was Nina in the neighborhood?”
“Come again? You mean outside this house?” I pointed up toward the street.
He nodded. “When I drove up, she and a red-haired boy were getting into a white truck that was parked in front of our house.”
I paced. The last I’d seen Nina other than in the halls at school was when she caused trouble at my beach party weeks ago. “I’ve had nothing to do with Nina. She swears we’re getting back together. She’s jealous of Montana. She threatens trouble. But she hasn’t followed through on any of her threats.”
“Well, let’s make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble for you again. Or Montana, either.”
I pinched my eyebrows. “Wait. Don’t bring Montana into this.”
